e-demanded. "Tired of '_Faro_,'" quoth
Mr. WAGGSTAFF--"why not make it '_Whisto_,' or some other game?"
_Exit_ WAGGY. The _Intermezzo_ of _Cavalleria Rusticana_ of course
encored enthusiastically. "Signor CREMONNINI," quoth WAGG, returning,
"is not half the 'ninny' his name implies." And, indeed, from the
moment he was heard singing "in his ambush" (as the Irish boy in the
Gallery said of TOM HOHLER at the Dublin Theatre when he heard the
_Trovatore's_ voice behind the scenes) before the rise of the Curtain,
everyone said, "This is the tenner for our money."

[Illustration: OPERATIC TACTICS.

_Sir Druriolanus_. "I Say, Bevignani, I think we've got the right
pitch, eh?"]

_Tuesday_.--The namesake of our own GEORGE AUGUSTUS, Mlle. ROSITA
SALA, made a real hit as _Leonora_ in _Il Trovatore_. "Handsome is as
handsome does," and Mlle. SALA didn't act as "handsome" as she looked.
Another "ninny" played to-night, namely GIANNINNI, all right vocally,
but not much dramatically. "_Il Balen_" was encored when sung by a
manly baritone with the feminine name of ANNA; i.e., Signor DE ANNA.
He might advantageously alter DE-ANNA to APOLLO, that is if he could
be sure of looking the part.

_Wednesday_.--_Lohengrin_. MELBA as _Elsa_. WAGGSTAFF tried to make
his usual pun on the name of _Ortruda_, but was "countered" by Young
JUMPER who protested that he had heard it before and never wanted to
hear it again. "I know what you're going to say," he exclaimed; "it's
something about '_aught ruder_!' I know!" "I've no doubt you do,"
returned the defrauded WAGGY, sarcastically, "for you're uncommonly
like _Othello_, 'Rude am I in speech'--only," added WAGGSTAFF, "_he_
apologised for it." Young JUMPER sniggered, his friends laughed, and
the incident terminated. The Chorus seemed to have become Wandering
Minstrels, so very uncertain were they.

Altogether, Sir DRURIOLANUS OPERATICUS, with his successful Drury Lane
Race-course, his Provincial Theatre, his Italian Opera, his Paper (not
_in_ the House, but his weekly one out of it), his Music-of-the-Future
Hall, for which a temporary and limited licence has been granted,
will--in a general-dealer kind of way--be having a good time of it
till Pantomime Season slaps him on the back with a cheery "Here we are
again!" and then he will have another and a better time. No doubt of
Sir Gus's success, or in abbreviated proverbial Latin, "_De Gus. non
disputandum_."

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